Duck And Run
by Sol Winterfang71
Summary: Duck and run, duck and run. That's all they could do, even off the battlefield. Life as a merc wasn't exactly easy, but if you know what you're doing, it isn't exactly hard either. You could make your own rules, do what you want, go where you want. Now, if only they knew what their Commander was trying to do besides living his life... Rated M for violence, sexual content, language


Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or Mass Effect. Takes place after ME3.

Duck And Run

Chapter One

Sprinting out from behind the toppled stone pillar, the armored figure slid the last couple feet behind cover beside his comrade. Duck and run. Duck and run. That's all they had been able to do since the remnants of Ceberus, now calling themselves Solaris, showed up and started causing problems for them. Solaris was now a well-organized and rather large mercenary company. They were still plentiful in troops, money, and supplies with a small, but decent starfleet. Unlike their former job description, Solaris had started allowing non-Human races to join their ranks and did almost anything for money; they even worked together for the Alliance at one time to remove a particularly large group of pirates. Fortunately, they had developed a sense of honor, something that was shown when they evacuacted all non-combatants from the city just after the initial conflict between Solaris and his crew, which ended up with his crew being forced to entrench themselves in a damn club.

Currently, they were stuck in the middle of a civil war of sorts with Solaris and it was all because of one person...

"Damn it! These guys don't give up, do they?!" Rayen, former Turian Spectre, snarled sarcastically as he reloaded his Phaeston. He was clad in his old solid black N7 Spectre armor that had been stripped of its N7 markings, his metallic-esque carapace a dark grey that matched his skin while a few blue markings decorated his face and armor, his eyes a pale yellow-white. Beside him was Cerce, another former Turian Spectre, who laughed sarcastically while slapping another thermal clip into her Revenant. She, like her companion, was wearing her old N7-stripped Spectre armor and had a dark grey, almost black tint to her carapace and skin while only a touch of neon green markings decorated her face and suit while her eyes were a bright neon emerald like the tattoos on her face and markings on her armor.

Their commander, clad in his old Solaris armor, remained quiet as he reloaded his own Revenant. Simply a set of Cerberus Assault Trooper armor painted black instead of white and red where it had once been yellow, his Solaris armor bore battle scars, both new and old, from the many conflicts he had seen since recieving the suit. Apart from repairs and maintenance, he never repainted it except after leaving Solaris, taking pride in their presence. The only real difference between his armor and that of the Solaris was that their armor was painted a dark orange-bronze instead of the white of Cerberus and black where it had once been yellow while there were also three jagged lines of red that crossed his helmet from the top right down to the bottom left in the appearance of claw marks.

It also boosted the intimidation factor quite a bit...

"Cover me." The ex-Solaris soldier ordered before bolting from cover, his two comrades opening fire on the line of Solaris Assault Troopers as they ducked back down behind the fallen pillar that spanned from one side of the street to the other. Sliding into cover behind a wrecked blue and white Alliance-owned Mako, the former Solaris soldier ran along the vehicle's length, jumping and smashing through a pane of glass and rolling into cover behind a desk. Peeking around the corner, he saw that no one on the opposing side had taken notice. Standing up and sliding across the desk, he ran to the other side of the room and down a hall. Kicking in the door to a small office, he ran forward and jumped once more, smashing through a second pane of glass. Directly behind the pillar the current Solaris soldiers were using for cover...

"Duck and run, mother-fuckers!" He exclaimed triumphantly as he opened fire on them, killing almost a third of them as they scattered for cover elsewhere. As they started returning fire, he jumped over the pillar they had just been using, rolling on the ground a little after losing his balance before kicking off a large chunk of rubble and sliding back up against it. Seeing that they had gained more ground, his Turian compatriots ran forward and joined him. Bumping armored fists with Rayen, the former Solaris soldier reloaded once more. "Alright, we've got some more breathing room, but we're getting low on ammo and they've doubtlessly called in for reinforcements. Any ideas? I'm fresh out."

"Hmph. Figures..." Cerce grumbled before leaning her head back against the pillar, thinking. "The Mako?"

"Won't get over this pillar. Not in one piece, at least. Besides, it's just a bigger target." Rayen countered, shooting down Cerce's idea. However, it gave their commander an idea of his own.

"A bigger target, huh?" He mumbled before grinning behind his helmet. "Keep them busy. I've got an idea..."

"Oh, _now_ he has one?!" Cerce barked out as she turned around and opened fire with a quick burst, forcing the Solaris soldiers to duck back down. Rayen could only pray it wasn't like their commander's other ideas...

* * *

"See? It worked..." Their commander wrasped out, obviously grinning stupidly behind his helmet as he leaned back against the torn-off tire of the Mako. Moronically, he had started the surprisingly still-operation Mako and backed it up, pointing it directly at the Solaris forces across the way. Then, while leaning on the loud and obnoxious horn, he had proceeded to gun the throttle, gaining an impressive amount of speed considering he had only seventy feet or so between him and the pillar. On initial impact, the front axel had been destroyed while the front end of the Mako was kicked up into the air, but it gave the machine enough leverage to get over the pillar and it still soldiered on.

Only for their commander to attempt a turn, succeeding only in rolling the land transport. He did, however, kill all of the Solaris soldiers in the process by crushing them. After kicking out the busted hatch and crawling out of the flaming wreckage, he had then decided to get comfortable while leaning against one of the large wheels that had been ripped off the Mako while it was flipping, something that Rayen suspected their commander had done on purpose.

"Idiot..." Cerce groaned with a sigh before she and Rayen helped their leader to his feet, supporting him on either side as they headed back down the street in the opposite direction they had been pushing forward on. Reaching the shot-up and war-torn night club they were hiding out in, the two Turians helped their commander into a chair to let him relax. Grunting and hissing in mild pain, the black-and-red-clad man fought with his helmet for a moment before tearing it off.

"God, that thing got stuffy all of a sudden..." He complained quietly with a slight grimace. Standing at 6'3" with a muscular build under his black Solaris armor, the man had shaggy dark crimson hair styled into an undershave and pulled back in a pony-tail that reached the base of his neck while two bangs hung down to his chin and framed his face, emerald green eyes, and tanned skin. Black tribal tattoos rose from beneath the armored collar of his suit and covered the shaved sides and back of his head while wrapping around his neck. His name was Naruto Uzumaki-Namikaze, son of Kushina Uzumaki and Minato Namikaze. His mother, Kushina, was a marine in the Alliance and currently stationed on the Citadel, which had just barely survived the final conflict with the Reapers almost ten years ago, the same battle that took his father, Minato, who had been the first Human Spectre. Naruto had only been fifteen years old at the time.

"Nice to see you're still in one piece, Commander." A female Quarian remarked as she approached them while doing something with her Omni-tool, a Geth Prime following behind her. The Quarian was dressed in a suit comprised of black and white sections with a crimson visor, the symbol of their crew being present on her left shoulder as did everyone else; it was a pair of red upward pointing chevrons with a pair of red downward point chevrons directly below them and a single red dot in the middle.

The Geth Prime had actually been something of a recreation project done by Naruto and an old friend of his father's; Legion. With Legion's help, the once normal Geth Prime became independant of the Geth 'hive mind', becoming Centurion. Unlike other Primes that are normally equipped with dark red armor, Centurion had black armor with the same red eyes, the symbol of their crew painted on its chest along with the armor panels on either shoulder.

_"Affirmative. Obsidian Commander confirmed to still operate. Are repairs required?"_ Centurion asked in a synthesized voice, a Geth Pulse Rifle grasped in its mechanical hands. Before Naruto could answer, the Quarian waved her Omni-tool covered left hand over Naruto's prone body, scanning him for injuries.

"No, he'll be just fine, Centurion. He only suffered some heavy bruising and minor head trauma, but nothing serious." She explained, causing Centurion to nod. Naruto smirked faintly and gave a quiet laugh, amused by the Geth's concern for him as well as Centurion's current inability to discern organic from mechanical in it's 'brain'. Maybe it was just a quirk of Centurion's that won't change? Smiling faintly behind the visor of her helmet, their field medic, Neira'Dhal vas Renegade decided to tease their leader a little bit. "So, how did it go, Commander? I noticed that our Mako was virtually destroyed."

"Ehehehe..." Naruto chuckled nervously, knowing that he was going to have to answer to the Alliance later. Not only them, but their crew's resident heavy weapons specialist and their engineer as well; Tank, a former Krogan Behemoth whose name no one could pronounce right, and Kida, a female Human and the newest member to their crew that was a natural genius when it came to machines and well-versed with the technology of all known races. Tank, who didn't really talk much, would probably just try to crush him in another bear hug, but Kida would most certaintly try to kill him this time; the Mako had been one of the Alliance's, but Naruto had promised her that he'd snag one for Kida and Tank just wanted something big and heavy to drive. Luckily, the two were still on the ship. "Yeah, about that..."

"His idea." Cerce spat as she poured herself a glass of liquor that had survived the initial conflict between their crew and Solaris that happened a week ago. Normally, they would have fled not long after that first day, but Solaris had made sure to surround them and keep them under pressure by constantly attacking with small skirmish forces multiple times a day, every day. Naruto shot her a glare, only making the female Turian smirk victoriously.

"As it always is. His fate lies in the hands of Kida, however. She will decide whether he lives or not." Neira commented. Getting a little annoyed by the comment, Naruto waved her off as he decided to get back to business before standing up, getting some help from Centurion in the process. Cradling his helmet under his left arm, Naruto cracked his neck and became serious.

"Obsidians, listen up." Naruto ordered calmly, causing Rayen and Cerce to rejoin them after spending the past few minutes at the ruins of the bar together. "We've got limited supplies, the Mako is trashed, and we've got Solaris knocking on our door. If we don't get the client out of here and on the Renegade before nightfall tomorrow, we're dead. Plain and simple."

"Geez...Comms are down and the Renegade is on the other side of the city." Rayen added in before cursing under his breath. "How the hell are we going to get there in time with Solaris bearing down on us every few hours?"

"...We can use the tunnels." A voice spoke up from behind them all. Everyone went silent as they felt awe flow through them at the sight of the female Prothean, Teishin. Still clad in her black military armor that bore yellow markings, Teishin stood at about 6'1" and had the same four orange eyes as her long-fallen kin. Her skin was a pale blue-ish color, the carapace atop her head a dark grey-ish color. The Obsidian crew had been hired to investigate some ruins a small mining camp had discovered and while there, they came across an old pod of some kind, only to reveal the Prothean. While traveling through the town in a Mako owned by the security force protecting the colony they were in, they had been attacked by Solaris, forcing them to take shelter in the night club. "We can use the tunnels under the city. The Renegade is only twenty miles north-northwest from the city outskirts; a total of thirty-one miles from our current location. We can make it in time if we can get to the tunnels without being detected."

"..." Naruto was silent as he activated his Omni-tool, the crimson energy enveloping his left forearm. Pulling up the city's mainframe and hacking into it, Naruto found a holographic map of the tunnels Teishin was talking about. He was honestly surprised she knew about them, but it was Eden Prime, a planet once controlled by the Protheans ages ago. Finding her plan plausible, Naruto closed out the program and deactivated the Omni-tool. "Teishin, can you fight?"

"Yes. I am a master of combat Biotics. Why?" The Prothean gave Naruto a look of curiousity as the red head put his helmet back on. Pulling out his Shuriken Machine Pistol with his right hand, Naruto restocked on thermal clips and a couple field packs of medi-gel. Everyone started to stare at him with confusion and worry when he didn't answer, walking over to where a Solaris Guardian's shield was lying on a table. Slipping his left forearm through the metal rungs and gripping it tightly, he hefted the massive door of a shield, the weight of the armored panel bringing back memories of his time in Solaris.

"You're going back out there, aren't you?" Cerce hissed with narrowed eyes, surprising everyone present, Teishin as well. When Naruto wordlessly made to leave the club, Cerce moved to stop him, but Neira beat her to it, standing in front of the door way with her arms crossed over her chest.

"You aren't going anywhere, Commander." Neira stated coldly before nodding towards Centurion, who walked over to them. That was when Neira stepped aside and held her arm out towards the door, confusing everyone before shocking them when she continued what she was saying. "Not without Centurion, at least."

"...Thank you, Neira. Come along, Centurion. Stay behind me and keep your head down." Naruto replied and then ordered before making his way outside as the two stayed behind the shield. As they left, Cerce rounded on Neira.

"What the hell was that?! He's going to get himself killed out there!" The Turian female exclaimed, only for Rayen to grab her arms and pull her back, knowing she would end up resorting to violence. It wouldn't do them any good for their medic to get hurt. "I thought you cared about him!"

"I do. That's why I let him go." The Quarian responded calmly, not at all phased by Cerce's explosive anger. "I have worked with him longer than any of you. I know my Commander and I know that he'll survive. That is why I joined him when he left Solaris and formed Obsidian. He is too head-strong and determined to die; not until he's accomplished his dream."

"Oh, and I suppose you know what that is, huh?!" Cerce spat, but Neira merely shook her head negatively.

"He never told me." Neira commented before looking out through a hole in the door, spotting Naruto's and Centurion's forms as they climbed over the pillar that they had been fighting Solaris at earlier...

* * *

"Are the charges in place?" Naruto asked of his partner in a hushed voice, getting a silent nod from Centurion. Taking a deep breath, Naruto peeked around the corner and spotted two Solaris Assault Troopers with their backs to them. He glanced back at Centurion. Sharing a nod, the two stepped out from behind the metal crates they had been hiding behind. Prefering stealth for the moment, Centurion wrapped its left arm around a Solaris's neck, snapping it and gently setting the corpse down while Naruto made his own kill. Sneaking up behind the other one at the same time as Centurion, Naruto reached out and swiftly grabbed the back of the soldier's armored collar, his right arm lighting up with a secondary Omni-tool, a pair of energy blades unfolding from the construct before being speared through the Solaris's back and out of his chest before the man could make a sound.

"Hmph. Just like old times, eh?" Naruto asked quietly, making Centurion nod. After Centurion had been completed, the two had gone bounty hunting for a year or two to build up Naruto's finances prior to leaving Solaris and forming Obsidian. During one of them, they had to infiltrate a camp without being detected before Centurion sniped their mark.

_"Affirmative."_ The Geth remarked before they both pulled out their respective rifles. Quickly moving into the camp site, the two stuck to the shadows as best as possible, but it was hard with so many lights illuminating the damn place. Luckily, there weren't many Obisidian soldiers moving around. Now that he thought about it, there weren't many left. Then again, they had been fighting from sun rise to sun down for the past six days with only their side taking casualties. Glancing around the corner of a sunfire-painted Kodiak shuttle they were hiding behind, Naruto paled.

"...Atlas...They have a bloody Atlas." Naruto had a moment where he just wanted to cry, only for a thought to pop in his head. He could make it up to Kida and Tank by getting them the Atlas...and maybe a Mako still, but only if he had time and if there was one sitting around. Glancing back around the corner, Naruto saw an engineer doing something with his Omni-tool while facing the Atlas and a relatively clear path leading straight to the heavily armored mechanical nightmare. Putting his back to the shuttle's hull once more, Naruto took a deep breath to settle his rattled nerves. "Alright. Centurion, I need you to cover me while I make a run for the Atlas. Once I get in, blow the charges and start shooting at anything that moves; except me. Okay?"

_"Affirmative, Obsidian Commander."_ Centurion responded before Naruto bolted, running as fast as he could. Reaching the engineer, Naruto bashed the butt of his Revenant into the man's neck and snapped it with a sickening _crack_ before mounting the rifle on his back and climbing into the cockpit of the Atlas mech. Pulling the canopy down and switching it on, Naruto grinned ferally as numerous explosions erupted all across the area just as the machine came to life, the terrifying power of an Atlas finally at his finger tips.

"Oh, I'm going to have fun with _this_...Hehehe..." The Obsidian Commander laughed quietly and evily as he started moving...

* * *

"Your Commander seems to be very skilled. Is there any particular reason?" Teishin inquired of Neira as they walked with Cerce and Rayen leading the group through the tunnels with their rifles raised. The Quarian sighed slightly before nodding.

"Since you just woke from cryo-sleep not too long ago, you don't know about this. Minato Namikaze, the first Human Spectre, destroyed the Reapers once and for all ten years ago, sacrificing his life in the end. He was said to be the best soldier the galaxy had ever seen and the greatest hero to ever exist for his efforts against the Reapers." Neira explained, knowing that the Turian couple ahead of them were listening in as well. Even after three years, they had yet to know about their Commander's past. The only thing they knew was his parentage and his former occupation in Solaris. "It was only a few weeks after his father's death that Naruto ran away from home, traveling the galaxy in search of information. He tracked down everyone that worked with his father, went to every place his father had gone to, and much more. He collected as much data on his father's battles as he could and by the time he was seventeen, he had actually invented the VCSR; Virtual Combat Simulation Room. With it, Naruto began to train, fighting his father's fights with surreal dedication and passion. When he turned eighteen, he joined the Alliance, but only went through basic training. After that, he went to Solaris and worked with them for three years before leaving them as well. He then formed Obsidian, a mercenary group that we are all apart of. We are small, but mighty. Most of us were at the top of our respective classes, the best of the best, if you will. He brought us all together and since then, we have not been a group of soldiers. We have been a family of bretheren bound by blood and honor."

"He sounds...truly incredible. I have another question, though. You said he invented the...VCSR? And that he fights his father's fights?" Teishin questioned curiously, getting a wordless nod from the Quarian beside her. "How is it that he does this? I am most curious because it sounds almost as if he is trying to duplicate my kind's ability to exchange experiences through physical contact."

"It's been awhile since I've thought about the VCSR's design; give me a second..." Neira excused, taking a moment to think as they continued walked. "I know he had to build a powerful enough computer system to store and operate everything. Everywhere he went, Naruto collected _petrabytes_ of data ranging from recordings of security cameras to investigation files and photos, autopsy reports, ballistics reports, helm-mounted camera recordings from soldiers of every race that encounted him; virtually anything and everything that had data about his father, Naruto collected and stored in the system in proper chronological order, which was a feat something none of us believed he was capable of. Every day he spends on the Renegade, he spends it in the VCSR, fighting battle after battle. He knows the battles so well that he has to run randomization programs in the simulations to change the positions and movement patterns of each enemy in the program as well as changing the load-out and threat level of the enemy to ensure he doesn't fall into a routine. Every time he enters it, though, he becomes a totally different person. I've seen it happen only twice outside of the VCSR. Once, it was when we had been attacked by large band of pirates while resupplying in the Terminus Systems. The second time was today, just before he left. So long as he is with Centurion, Naruto will return to us alive."

"Your faith in him is strong. Why is that?" Teishin asked, making Neira look down at the ground for a moment.

"He has saved my life too many times to count. Every time, we were stuck in situations that seemed impossible to survive, but...we did. And it was all because of him. I have seen him wipe out entire platoons of veteran soldiers, kill a Thresher Maw on his own, fend off an entire clan of Krogans without killing a single one, and even go toe to toe with an Asari Justicar in a pure Biotics fight." Neira admitted, her words of testamony shocking the Turians with them and making Teishin's four eyes widen with surprise and astonishment. A Human, of all races, had that kind of power? Absolutely astounding. "The things I have seen him do and the things I've only heard stories about...THAT is why I my faith in him is unwaivering and indestructable. I wholly believe that there is nothing that can stop him from accomplishing anything he puts every fiber of his very being into completing."

"That is...enlightening. Thank you." Teishin acknowledged before the group fell silent once more. Cerce had a look of guilt on her face, having doubted her Commander's sanity and skill when he left. While seemingly over-exaggerated and imaginary as it all sounded, the vindication and first-hand experience in her voice said otherwise; plus, it also helped that they had all proven it was physically impossible for Neira to lie. Gripping her Revenant tightly and causing her gloves to groan with strain, Cerce narrowed her eyes and steeled her resolve; never again would she doubt him. Well, his sanity was still questionable...

* * *

"See? I told you it would work!" Naruto called out to Centurion with a cheshire grin hidden by his helmet; honestly, even he had doubted the soundness of his own idea. The Solaris camp was in flaming ruins, bodies of the orange-black clad soldiers strewn about haphazardly. The assault took only about thirty minutes before Naruto, still in piloting the Atlas, came across a Mako in prestine condition. After an hour or two of scavenging for usable parts, needed supplies, and anything of value they could sell on the black market, Naruto and Centurion loaded everything they could carry into the Mako before putting the machine in neutral after hooking it up to the Atlas, which Naruto was currently piloting with the canopy raised, towing one armored behemoth with another.

_"Affirmative. Shall Centurion contact Renegade for retrieval?"_ Centurion suggested as it jumped from the back of the Mako and landed on the Atlas's right arm, gripping the heavily armored limb with its own mechanical hands and feet.

"No. We don't know if the others got there yet and besides, I need to get used to the Atlas controls." Naruto replied calmly, only for the Atlas's right foot to suddenly dip into a crater in the middle of the dark lightless street. Grunting from the jarring force, Naruto maneuvered the machine out of the hole and around it to avoid getting the Mako stuck. They had made it back into the city and were following the same general path as the tunnel the other Obsidians and Teishin were taking. The others just had a four hour head start on them and were traveling by foot. "Besides, the terrain won't allow a proper pick-up with both an Atlas and a Mako."

_"Confirmed. Renegade will not be able to maneuver between these buildings. The Kodiak shuttle is also incapable of transporting either the Atlas or the Mako, meaning manual reception is required."_ Centurion noted, making Naruto nod with confirmation. What Centurion meant by 'manual reception' was that both machines would have to be loaded directly onto the Renegade in order to be taken with them upon leaving Eden Prime. Using a special optics sensor in his helmet that operated similarly to a cross between echo location and sonar, Naruto was relieved to find that the current street they were on was clear of debris and obstacles for several miles, having been left relatively untouched during the expansive conflict between Obsidian and Solaris. That left him time to his thoughts without worrying about missing something because of it and getting the Atlas, or the Mako, stuck.

Having managed to recruit a 'few' Solaris members to his side in secret without being detected before officially breaking away from them, Naruto was able to hijack a two Cerberus/Solaris Frigate-class ships, a Cruiser-class ship, and even an experimental frigate docked with the Cruiser that Cerberus had been working on before their downfall, but never used by Solaris; styled like its predecessor, the ship's payload and outfittings were based heavily off of the SR-2 Normandy that had disappeared after the final battle with the Reapers. That same ship was now titled 'SR-3 Renegade'. Naruto had been forced to spend an obscene sum of money to get his ships painted in the proper colors; black where it had been white and red where it had been yellow. The areas where Cerberus/Solaris's emblem had been now had Obsidian's symbol emblazed on their hulls.

_"Commander. Centurion can see Renegade."_ Centurion's synthetic voice broke through Naruto's thoughts, prompting the black-suited soldier of fortune to look at the guidance controls of the Atlas, seeing the target destination just a few miles away. Had they already left the city? Just how long was he spaced out? _"Shall Centurion contact Renegade for retrieval?"_

"Yeah, why not? The others are probably pretty worried about us." Naruto admitted with a sigh before focusing back on the terrain ahead, knowing he couldn't consciously operate autonomously like he had been before Centurion spoke up. He could only thank whatever God or Goddess that was out there that he managed to find something to possibly appease both Tank and Kida, saving him from suffering any sort of punishment from the two...


End file.
